Presently, much is known about capsicum. A current internet site located on the world wide web at http://neptune.netimages.com/%7Echile/science.html provides a great deal of background information. Peppers are members of the genus Capsicum, and the family Solanaceae, which include eggplant and tomatoes. The name Capsicum comes from the Greek kapto, which means "to bite".
It is estimated that there are at least 26 species of peppers categorized at present, most of which are found in the wild. There are five species of domesticated peppers:(1) annuum, from "annual; this includes most of the common peppers found in markets including bell peppers, jalapenos and New Mexican; (2) baccatum, from "berry-like"; these are the aji peppers found commonly in South America; (3) chinense, meaning "from China"; this includes the famous habanero, Scotch Bonnets, etc.; (4)frutescens, meaning "brushy" and are the tabasco peppers; and (5) pubescens, from "hairy"; these are the South American rocoto peppers. References to annuum species often include the pod type. Due to easy inbreeding between annuum, chinense and frutescens, there are hundreds of different varieties found throughout the world. All peppers originated in the New World. The origin seems to be in the area of Bolivia and Paraguay in South America. Wild peppers were spread by birds, who are apparently unaffected by the heat of the fruit.
Many varieties of the Capsicum species are not hot, or pungent. Most paprikas grown in Europe and bell peppers grown in the US have little or no pungency. These varieties are used fresh, or often used to color other foods. The wilder varieties, on the other hand, range from mildly to extremely pungent. This is entirely due to the substance capsaicin, or, actually, a group of similar substances called capsaicinoids. Pure capsaicin, or 8-methyl-n-vanillyl-6-nonenamide, is a whitish powder which is soluble in alcohol but insoluble in cold water, which is why drinking water to help alleviate the burning won't work. The capsaicinoids are unique compared to other "spicy" substances such as mustard oil (zingerone and allyl isothiocyanate), black pepper (piperine) and ginger (gingerol) in that capsaicin causes a long-lasting selective desensitization to the irritant pain by repeated doses of a low concentration or a single high concentration dose.
The use of capsicum in an aqueous solution for exterminating termites is completely unknown. Numerous other uses for chile peppers have been patented. U.S. Pat. No. 5217708 teaches an aerosol lachrymator formulation having all natural pepper extracts as the active ingredients. The lachrymator formulations are useful in self-defense devices. The formulations are non-toxic and have a broader spectrum of activity than man-made lachrymators. These aerosol formulations rely on a carbon dioxide propellant.
Numerous applications of capsicum for medicinal or therapeutic purposes, such as in cough drop formulations, analgesics, thermo slimming cosmetic compositions, ache and pain compounds and arthritis compositions are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4980169, 4931277, 4702916, 4795638, 4592912 and 4271154. These applications are unrelated to the present invention.
Numerous applications include the use of capsicum to discourage growth of living organisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5226380 teaches a covering material for underwater objects such as boat hulls or water intake pipes. The covering includes a waterproof coating such as adhesive or paint containing capsicum derivatives such as cayenne pepper or oleoresin capsicum, with the coating applied to the outer surface of the object to be protected, to repel marine organisms which might otherwise attach themselves to the object.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5599803 and 5525597 teach insecticidal compositions, comprising nonmally-employed insecticides but comprising also an effective activity-enhancing amount of capsaicin or other capsaicinoid, especially in the form of capsicum, which exhibit synergistic effects against numerous insects, including especially bud worms, boll worms, cabbage loopers, army worms, beet army worms, and beetles, and are especially effective on cotton, soybeans, common garden vegetables, and flowers, when sprayed on the insect or its habitat, especially as an aqueous solution, suspension, or emulsion. Larger crop stands may be effectively treated by aerial spraying from the usual crop-dusting airplane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5514779 teaches biocidal proteins capable of isolation from seeds have been charaterized. The proteins have an amino acid sequence containing the common cysteine/glycine domain of Chitin-binding Plant Proteins but show substantially better activity against pathogenic fungi, a higher ratio of basic amino acids to acidic amino acids, and/or antifungal activity which results in increased hyphal branching. Antimicrobial proteins isolated from Amaranthus, Capsicum, Briza and related species are provided. The proteins show a wide range of antifungal activity and are active against Gram-positive bacteria. DNA encoding the proteins may be isolated and incorporated into vectors. Plants may be transformed with this DNA. The proteins find agricultural or pharmaceutical application as antifungal or antibacterial agents. Transgenic plants expressing the protein will show increased disease resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5240708 teaches a composition and method for spraying an area to inhibit web growth and discourage spiders, other insects or the like from returning to the sprayed area. The solution includes liquid soap that is blended with oil of anise and coriander oil. Capsicum is then added and completely blended in the soap mixture. The mixture is blended with an acetic acid solution to form the solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 5544304 teaches a composition for repelling birds, the composition having as active ingredients finely divided dried pepper from pungent fruits of plants of the genus Capsicum and finely divided dried garlic and typically being diluted by inert, finely divided mineral material or water for application to the earth surface or to growing plants to repel birds given to eating seeds, plants, vegetables, and fruits.
With regard to the prior art teaching the use of capsicum as an adjunct ingredient to an insecticidal composition, all of these compositions include the use of other, toxic, non-capsicum based chemicals. The use of capsicum therein is as an adjunct, not as a replacement. The use of a solution of capsicum alone in water is neither taught nor suggested in any of the relevant prior art available.
In the generally well known and accepted prior art for extermination of termites and other insect infestations, little is known regarding the availability of safe, efficacious and non-toxic to humans formulations or methods. Methyl bromide is a common chemical which does damage to the ozone layer, is volatile and is very toxic to humans. The gas or liquid is injected directly into soil for extermination of, for example, undesirable crop insects. At present, however, the use of methyl bromide is being discontinued due to changes in the law. However, other chemicals also have similar drawbacks--they are either damaging to the environment or are toxic to humans, or any combination of the two.
One non-chemical approach to termite extermination is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,199 issued Nov. 24, 1992 to Tallon. This invention concerns a non-toxic method of exterminating dry wood termites, fleas, roaches, ants, weevils and the like by utilizing an inert freezing liquid such as liquid nitrogen as the killing agent. The liquid nitrogen is inserted so as to envelop the colony of objectionable organisms until the environment is reduced to a temperature of at least zero degrees Fahrenheit and maintained at that temperature for between 2 to 5 minutes. Unfortunately, this method requires transportation of heavy, compressed gas-type cylinders for containing the freezing cryogenic liquid. Furthermore, the use of such materials is not only expensive but dangerous, and an accident operating the tanks and transfer equipment can cause significant bodily injury to operators and others.
Thus, while it is known that capsicum and pepper-extract containing formulations exhibit properties which repel animals such as ocean crustaceans, crop and plant insects, birds, etc., there is no reference in the prior art to the use of such formulations for exterminating termites or for clearing existing insect and pest infestations from soil or structures.